Future Tense Event: How Will Human Ingenuity Handle a Warming Planet?

Future Tense Event: How Will Human Ingenuity Handle a Warming Planet?

Humans are altering the Earth system at every scale, up to and including the global climate. Going forward, how will human ingenuity handle a warming world? We’re all familiar with the doomsday predictions of more droughts, fires, floods and economic disaster, but what are the possibilities for thriving in a changed climate? Our species is innovative and adaptive—rarely more so than when responding to stress and conflict. Join Future Tense to consider the question before us in these Anthropocene days: What opportunities does global climate change present for making our societies more equitable, prosperous, and resilient in the long run?

On Thursday, Jan. 15, Future Tense—a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University—will discuss these issues at the New America offices in Washington, D.C. You can find the agenda below. To RSVP, click here.

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On the evening of Jan. 14, Future Tense will host a screening of the documentary Merchants of Doubt in Washington. Merchants of Doubt looks at the shadowy world of well-paid pseudo-experts who undermine established science at the behest of the tobacco, pharmaceutical, and fossil fuel industries.For more information on the screening, click here.

Agenda for How Will Human Ingenuity Handle a Warming Planet?

12:15 p.m.: Futures of Climate Change

Brad Allenby
President’s professor of sustainable engineering, Lincoln professor of engineering and ethics, Arizona State University